


Does Family Even Have a Meaning?

by l1ght



Series: On The Cliffs Of Insanity Bad Ending Oneshots [3]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Gen, I have no idea, Insanity, On the Cliffs of Insanity Oneshot, TommyInnit POV, yay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:26:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29328492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/l1ght/pseuds/l1ght
Summary: Tommy realizes he's not where he's supposed to be.ORA oneshot set after the bad ending of bruisedbutlovely's On the Cliffs of Insanity.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Technoblade & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: On The Cliffs Of Insanity Bad Ending Oneshots [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2013973
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Does Family Even Have a Meaning?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bruisedbutlovely](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bruisedbutlovely/gifts).
  * Inspired by [On the Cliffs of Insanity](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26490556) by [bruisedbutlovely](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bruisedbutlovely/pseuds/bruisedbutlovely). 



> hello, yes i exist.
> 
> i do not claim to own this universe, it belongs to bruisedbutlovely.
> 
> ill fix the tags later.
> 
> THIS IS ALL PLATONIC, TOMMY JUST REALLY CARES ABOUT TUBBO, WHY DO I HAVE TO CLARIFY THIS.
> 
> enjoy!

He laid on the ground, staring blankly at the blue sky. The sky was too blue. It wasn't supposed to be blue and sunny all the time. There were supposed to be storms, and rain, and bad weather, and shit. But it was just. blue. the blue sky, the sun, the clouds were always there. Some may have found comfort in them, but he didn't. It creeped him the fuck out. It wasn't supposed to be this way. It wasn't supposed to be a perfect life with a perfect family and perfect weather. perfect grass, perfect forests, and rules against venturing too far out. He fucking hated it.

He just wanted some change. Something different. Something maybe not so perfect. 

It wasn't just the surroundings that were too perfect, it was the people as well. People were supposed to have emotions and be sad, and angry, and all of that shit. They weren't supposed to be happy and placated and saying what the other wanted them to say. Techno wasn't supposed to be calm and happy here, he's supposed to be trying to revolt, to break free of these chains. Dream wasn't supposed to laugh like they do and be such pals with them and be fully accepting of this way-too-perfect reality.

But they did.

Everything was just too perfect, just not how it was supposed to be. 

Wilbur wasn't supposed to be just sitting there, smiling and just laughing at the tiniest of things. He should be strumming his guitar, making up his songs about girls and boyfriend and him not being gay. He was supposed to be leading revolutions, and be a leader.

Phil was supposed to be a nice father, the guy that everyone loved. Not the guy that kidnapped his own children-

Wait what. What did he just think-. Surely not ~~echoes of a dear friend saying that~~ , _surely not_?

Now that he thought about it… how _did_ he get here? How did any of them get here? No one had told them how they got here, they all just assumed that they were here their entire lives. But then why did he get flashes of memories that shouldn't exist? Wilbur leading them to a war for independence, championships, Techno teaching how to play skywars, meeting Tubbo… How did those memories exist? Were they even memories?

It hurt his brain to think about. So he just ignored it. Or he could actually get the fuck up and do something about it. Perhaps he should do that. Or he could stay here. Or he could get up. It was an impossible choice. If he did something about it, this perfect life would be gone. Even as much as he hated this life, it would be so much better than the chaos and turmoil of the world of his memories. But if he left, he could experience danger again, no more of this irrational perfection. He could see his friends again.

His friends.

That was the deal-breaker for him. How could he have forgotten about his friends? The most important people in his old life. Tubbo, Tubbo. How was Tubbo doing? He missed the guy. What would Tubbo say if he was here now, laying on the too-perfect grass beside him? Probably something about not giving up or burning the whole place down. He really wished Tubbo was here with him.

A bee drifted by, probably looking for pollen. He stared after it, thinking back to Tubbo showing him his bee farm, all the hives he had and explaining everything to him. Tubbo liked bees, didn't he? ~~he remembered a hunt, a bee following them as the three ran from their friends~~

He realized that didn't matter all that much. Tubbo was the better one out of the pair. Tubbo was funnier, more capable, more strong-willed, just more everything. Fuck, he missed the guy.

He didn't notice the tears falling from his eyes, his eyes closing. He subconsciously moved his arm to cover his eyes. Now everything was dark.

Even the dark was too perfect.

He heard footsteps walking by, but he ignored them. Did they even matter? Did anything matter? No, probably not. But just because it didn't matter didn’t mean it wasn't real. ~~If that were true, only tubbo would exist~~ ; he heard someone sit down beside him, but he ignored it. That didn't matter.

There were three things about this place that bothered him. The perfectness of it all, how everything was exactly how it wasn't supposed to be, and how everyone acted like they and everything else mattered.

He really would just burn the place down. But the respawn points were here, what was the point of doing that? the same point that everything else had. Nothing. It was all just pointless.

He heard a sigh from the person beside him. He almost jumped up, he'd forgotten someone was there. Someone was there, just watching him and his existential crisis. Well, he didn’t give a fuck. It didn't matter.

"Tommy," They said. What did the person want? He just wanted to lie here and pretend his problems did not exist. But no, the person wanted something from him. He’d just wait for them to say something else. He didn't feel like talking. He didn't feel like anything at all.

"Tommy, stop pretending you don't remember," 

Another thing that almost caused him to sit up. Did the person remember? On whose side were they? Did he even have a side? What were the sides? Why did he think there were sides? 

Everything was just so fucking confusing. He absolutely hated it. Not for the first or last time, he wished Tubbo was here.

"Tommy, we need to figure out how we’re gonna get out of here,"

He finally sat up at that and turned to look at Techno. He wasn't the only one? The only one who thought something was off?

"Yes, Tommy, I remember. Are you going to help me figure out a plan, or are you going to give up like Dream did?"

Dream gave up? Techno remembered everything? There were just so many questions. It was all questions and no answers. Just another thing he fucking hated. 

"I-I don’t remember Techno. I don’t remember it all. I know bits and pieces, but-"

"Tommy, do you know that you, that we, are not supposed to be here?"

He nodded. What did that matter? Of course, they weren't supposed to be here, everything was too perfect here.

"Then isn't that good enough reason to help me plan an escape?"

He was right, Tommy realized. The two of them should escape. But a part of him wanted to stay, even though he knew that he shouldn't.

"Yeah… yeah you're right. but… but a part of me wants to stay, even though I know we should leave,"

"I feel the same way, Tommy. That’s Stockholm syndrome. But in this case, we should go with our gut and get the fuck out of here,"

Tommy nodded. They were going to get out of here. He didn't know what they were going to do once they got out, but that didn't matter now. They'll cross that bridge when they get to it.

"I’m with you, Techno," he said. The other nodded.

"Good. Now we need to figure if we’re going to take Dream with us or leave him here,"

Was leaving Dream even truly an option? Yes. Yes, it was. And Tommy hated it (so did Techno). But Dream had chosen to give up. Perhaps it was impossible to get him back.

"We can make that choice later thought,"

Tommy relaxed. Sure, Dream was a bitch, but he was still his friend. Hopefully, they’d figure out a way to bring him with them. they couldn’t just leave him here. Maybe he’d come around to his senses? It was pointless hoping for that, but might as well. Positivity is what they needed now.

"We need a plan. I don’t have one. Any ideas?"

Tommy was honestly dumbfounded. Here, Techno had waltzed in, snapping him out and telling him that they needed to escape. Then he told him that he had no plan. The fucker.

"I thought you had a plan, Techno!"

"Well, I don’t,"

Tommy thought back. His memory was still fuzzy, but it was slowly piecing itself back together. He thinks he remembers a past Phil telling him about server mechanics, about how if a locked server's lock mechanism isn’t maintained regularly it would get weaker- that was it.

He repeated what he remembered. Techno brought up the possibility of Phil having maintained the mechanism. But then the pair realized that Phil almost never left the mansion. and the lock mechanism was it the end. You could lock by using the admin console, but you’d have to maintain the mechanism. It was admin 101 stuff. But Phil had forgotten it.

They had a chance.

They’d have to make it to the end again (the end portal was still open) and figure out a way to break the lock mechanism (the lock waa invisible, they’d have to either get the admin console from Phil or figure out where it was and how to break it). It seemed complicated, and it was. But they had no other choice. 

They sat in silence for a bit, just pondering. They were going to do this.

"Tommy?"

"Mm?"

"If we do make it… If we do get out of here… were not going to be able to tell our friends that we made it out,"

Tommy’s head snapped towards the older male. "W-what?" it couldn’t be. If he couldn’t see Tubbo, why was he even escaping? While, sure, it was to get out of this way-too-perfect place, seeing Tubbo again was much more important.

Techno nodded. "Yeah… we don’t know how long we’ve been in here. Our sense of time is so skewed, there are no clocks, there’s no way to tell the time other than the sun. So telling the date is impossible. For all we know, years have passed, or it could be just days. We just can’t risk it,"

What Techno was saying made sense. But… but no. Techno was right. Tommy wasn’t letting his thoughts drift off into that direction again. 

Tommy must've still looked appalled, as Techno reassured him, "We're not going to actively avoid them. While we are going to change our names, we're not going to go out of our way to not be in the same room as them,"

That kind of reassured Tommy. Not really though. He needed to go along with the plan though. It was his only chance of seeing Tubbo again, even if it was slim. He nodded.

"If were going to change our names, I'll be Red,"

Techno raised an eyebrow at that one. Naming himself after a color? So strange. But strange was tommy.

"I'll be Eldin. But we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. We're not out of here yet. We need a plan, Tommy. An actual plan,"

Eldin? What kind of name was that? didn't matter, didn't matter. Techno was once again, right. 

So a plan was thought out. It was loose at best, and had many holes, but it was something. They'd agreed on a plan of action, and how to take Dream along with them.

how were they going to take Dream with them? simple. they don't.

Techno told tommy about the code he and Dream made up after that duel for the money ~~Tommy could tell Techno didn't remember how much money it was~~. They'd agreed on a pact, right then and there. And just in case, the two had made a viginère code. Techno was sure that Dream wouldn't remember the key word until he snapped out.

It was perfect. But not the bad kind of perfect, the perfect that this place was. No, it was the good kind of perfect, the perfect that happens when you make a good plan or do something perfectly.

The plan was to be set in motion in 2 days. 

Meanwhile, they prepared. Techno made a key (which he immediately ripped into millions of shreds after he finished writing the message) to write the message. Tommy crafted a sword and an axe in his soundproof room ~~he'd asked for his room to be soundproofed after he'd gotten the first flash of his old memories~~.

After two days, they were ready. Ready for their last attempt at freedom. The message was slipped under Dream's door at midnight, just before the pair snuck out. They walked silently across the forest floor towards where they remembered the end portal being.

They still didn't know how they were going to break the lock. The dragon was dead, they wouldn't have to fight that. But if they jumped right into the portal in the middle of the end, they'd both end up right at their respawn points in the mansion. That's what the lock did. It would be more accurately described as a rerouter. It rerouted where they would spawn from the hub to their respawn points, or if they didn't have one, world spawn.

It didn't matter what you called it, lock or rerouter. The question still remained, how were they going to break it? Tommy didn't remember Phil telling him anything about breaking the lock, just how to maintain it.

As they walked, they bounced ideas about what to do off of each other. Techno said they could find it and just break it. Tommy said they could try pouring lava on it. There were many options, but most of them wouldn't work. 

They would constantly look behind them, waiting, just waiting for a taunting voice to catch them and hunt them down. But as the sun rose, they were still seemingly the only players in the forest.

Well, that was going to change soon. Someone would call them down for breakfast, and when they didn't respond, they'd investigate. As soon as they saw that neither Tommy nor Techno were there, the hunt would begin.

They had to put distance between them now, quickly, before that happened.

As soon as they had seen the first glint of sunlight, the brothers had quieted down. Any talking was brief and done in a cautious whisper. They moved as silently as possible, trying to just disappear so no one could find them.

And no one did. It was suspiciously lucky that by noon they hadn't seen even a glimpse of those who were supposed to be their family. It was lucky, way too lucky. But they'd take the luck they got.

By the time the sun was setting, they had already passed the nether portal. Yet they saw no one. At some point, techno had taken out his sword, and still hadn't put it away. They were on high alert, jumping at the slightest of sounds.

After almost a day of traveling, Techno said they should stop to make camp for the night. They did so, one of them staying awake for a few hours, then waking the other up to take a shift. But they were both tired, they had travelled a long way.

Tommy didn't even last half an hour on his second shift. They were both fast asleep and vulnerable.

Tommy's dreams were nightmares, of his 'friends' hunting him down, draggin him back to this twisted so-called family.

The nightmares were the basement all over again.

He wasn't in that basement for long, not as long as dream and techno. 

But he still remembered it, and it was terrible. He woke up with a start when a hand was placed over his mouth.

"Shh, Tommy. They're here,"

It was techno. He calmed down, and nodded. Techno removed his hand and gave Tommy his sword. 

They both quietly stood up, on alert.

There was the soft crunch of leaves there, a breath, a whisper that way, the drawing of a sword over there.

They knew that tommy and techno were there.

"What do we do?" he whispered as quietly as possible. Techno just shot him a glare then motioned for Tommy to follow him.

He led them through a tunnel Tommy hadn't even noticed in the back of the cave that they had made camp in. They hadn't had enough time to pack up the things in the camp, they just grabbed what they could.

The tunnel eventually opened up to the surface once more.

They stood stock-still, listening for any signs of the hunters having followed them.

They really had people hunting them, didn't they? Tommy never thought he'd be in this situation. Well… he thought he'd never be in a lot of situations that he actually ended up in, so it isn't that surprising. He chuckled to himself at his own terrible joke. techno glared at him again.

The older pointed to a bush a little ahead. Tommy nodded and they rushed there as silently as possible. When they got there, they froze, listening for anything, anyone out there. 

Techno noticed the crinkling of leaves behind them too late.

In a flash, they both had a hand on their mouths. 

Tommy dropped his sword and grabbed the hand and tried to pry it off, but the hand just clenched tighter. A glance over at Techno showed he was doing the same thing.

"Now, now. Don't struggle. You're not going to get out of my grip,"

They both immediately stopped when they heard the voice, realizing exactly who it was. That bitch really had fully snapped, hadn't he?

"There, there… I'm going to take your weapons now. I'm not going to kill you,"

Tommy felt a spark of hope flare up within him.

"Phil said to try and get you guys back at the mansion without any death,"

The spark was extinguished.

Dream took their weapons, and put them in his inventory. Neither techno nor tommy moved. If they did, they would just end up immediately dead. 

"Okay, now you're going to get up, and not say anything,"

They did so in silence, trying to figure something out.

"Dream-,"

"Silence, techno. did you not hear what i said?"

Man, Dream was scary. Tommy had almost never seen this side of him before. 

"Okay, now get in front of me. Still no speaking,"

Tommy and techno exchanged a glance, one panicked, the other trying to format a plan.

"Now,"

"Dream, man,-"

"Tommy, what did I say?"

"-my friend, do you really want to do this, heh-,"

"tommy, shut the fuck up,"

"No, you shut up. Why are you on their side, they're the ones who kidnapped us in the first place-!"

"Because their side is the right side. They had the right idea when 'kidnapping' us. I only wish you could see that. now move forward, don't move to the side, only forwards,"

Tommy glared defiantly at Dream until the man moved his axe to Tommy's throat.

He immediately quieted down and complied. Was there anything else he could do? No, not really.

He had one option of escape, but would he take it?

**Author's Note:**

> i bullshitted my way through half of this. i know the lock thing makes no sense.
> 
> so uh, i dont know if they will escape, or not, i cant decide. so you decide! say what you think in the comments, or vote on he discord! yes i made a discord server! https://discord.gg/2EzeXjcHZ2
> 
> thanks for reading!


End file.
